SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly last night said: “50-50 recruitment should not have been ended when it did, it’s very clear that ought to be reinstated.

“So many years on from Patten and the transformation of the PSNI these figures are still a cause for concern in terms of people going through the rank and file and it’s a matter I hope the Policing Board will delve into an investigate more with the PSNI to see if more can be done.”

“I have said it publicly and privately we are not seeing the big role models in those senior ranks.”